1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to e-commerce customer-support services, and particularly, to enhanced features for a web-based electronic billing system tool that provides internal sales representatives with updated customer e-billing account activity.
2. Discussion of the Background
Currently, there is no telecommunications enterprise or vendor providing telecommunications services that provide a fully integrated communications offering on the Internet with comprehensive product and services information, including electronic billing analysis and interactive customer support. In the area of billing for telecommunications products and services, telecommunications service enterprises provide capabilities for “on-line” electronic funds transfer (EFT) or public switched telephone network (PSTN) dial-up credit card payment of their invoices.
Existing comprehensive world-wide-web/Internet-based invoicing and payment systems (hereinafter “e-billing”) enables customers to easily receive and analyze their invoices, and, in addition, enable customers to pay their invoices, electronically via electronic funds transfer. This “e-billing” system includes a comprehensive software and system infrastructure that provides a variety of tools for enabling customers of telecom companies to receive, analyze and pay their invoices by a variety of methods, via a single comprehensive interface.
It is becoming increasingly desirable to provide an internal Sales Representative of the telecommunications enterprise sales force with access to e-billing customer accounts so as to enable the sales force to better manage/track their e-billing customers.